


Weight On My Shoulders

by Nims Archive (Underratedmoon)



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:00:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26418367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Underratedmoon/pseuds/Nims%20Archive
Summary: Kassandra can handle the fighting and the travel (mostly) with the demands of being a Misthios, but sometimes, alone is when things get hard.
Kudos: 9





	Weight On My Shoulders

The sloshing and churning of the waters was something that always took a lot of getting used to. Especially for someone who has had their legs on solid ground their entire life. The rocking of the Adrestria was just a heavy reminder to Kassandra that she shouldn't be eating full meals before departing a port. And for her dearly reminder, there she was, hanging her head over the side of the mighty ship, losing that glorious meal. Luckily, there was hardly any crew on the deck since it was so late at night.

As Kassandra was bent over the rails, hands gripping the wood, it seemed to give her some time to think. Mostly questioning how much longer her body was going to protest the water travel. After all, since she had first met Barnabas and departed Kephallonia, there was plenty of time to grow accustomed to the waters. It had been so long since she had last seen those shores, or at least it felt like it was. The place she had called home for so long.

Some simple memories played themselves over in her head as she lifted her body up from the railing. Thoughts of Phoibe, doing dirty work for Markos, the little hovel she called home, the poor but smiling faces in Sami. Kassandra let out a small sigh and turned herself around, dropping down to sit and lean against the rails. Her head dropped as she just looked at her feet, clad in bronze greaves. The gear she had just recently gotten from the blacksmith. She admired the craftsmanship, the bronze barely shining in the moonlight. Hardly damaged at this point, still able to look as they had been formed this morning.

With her mind wandering to her gear, she started looking over the rest of it. From the bracers on her forearms to her chest plate. Everything she had was somewhat mismatched. Unlike her greaves, which she had unloaded quite a bit of drachmae for, the rest came from different places, like her chest plate and belt that she had lifted off of other misthios who had come for her head, and the bracers came from a chest she had looted in a fort back in Megris. But the last piece of armor she was currently using brought a heavier weight to it.

Currently, her helmet was stashed away in the chest at the stern of the ship, with other extra pieces of armor. Kassandra didn't like looking at the helmet unless she had to wear it, though now was currently not one of those times. However, her brown eyes wandered over to the chest. But she didn't want to move right now. The placement of the Adrestria on the waters was calmer, letting the rocking be kept at a minimum, something her body could ignore.

She looked away from the chest over towards the bow of the ship. Odessa was currently sleeping on the deck while a couple other crew members were sitting and talking. No one else was in sight. At least no one she could easily talk to at the moment. With a resigned sigh, Kassandra pulled herself to her feet and walked quietly to the chest. It took another minute of standing and staring before she could open it, but when she did, she pulled the helmet out and slammed the lid.

The sound traveled the length of the ship and out onto the waters. Enough to wake Odessa and get the attention of the other members of the crew. Kassandra just waved at them, signing that nothing was wrong. The attention remained on Kassandra for a few seconds longer than she had hoped, but when she felt the eyes leave her, she finally looked at the helmet.

Holding it felt heavy, heavier than the metal it was made from. It was a sturdy helmet, mainly why she preferred to use it over other headgear she had collected, but with it came more meaning. The helmet was known as The Wolf's Helm, a custom Spartan helmet. Thinking on it, it was kind of funny to Kassandra to be wearing Spartan gear while also being sent to kill Spartans.

She chuckled at the thought, a sad smile coming across her lips as she took to admiring the small details that made the helmet so unique. From the little wolf figurine to the brilliant red plume atop it. It provided ample protection, even with the showiness of the attire. It functioned right, with the purpose to protect Kassandra's head in battle. However, off the battlefield, the helmet has done nothing but caused her mental pain.

Looking at the helmet lead her thoughts back to how she first obtained it. Facing her father on top of that cliff, her intention had been to kill him. But, for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She had tossed him aside, instead of over the cliff. Nikolaos dropped the helmet as he left and had also dropped enough information to shatter everything Kassandra had thought about her life.

It was this moment and this choice, to take the helmet and confront the words behind her father's - no, stepfather's departure. Kassandra had taken the helmet as a means to lie and convince the man who had hired her that the deed was done. But when further truths had come to light, she took the helmet to use as her own. Bearing the burdens and the unanswered questions whenever she wore it.

Kassandra went further into thinking about what the helmet may have really meant., the thoughts building up like many times before. Her mind was full of ideas and questions, thoughts she took a long time to ponder over. Something that distracted her from the time.

A sudden hand clamping on her shoulder made Kassandra jump. She dropped the helmet on the deck and instinctively reached for her spear. Spinning on her heel, ready to defend herself, she pointed the spear at... Barnabas.

He had his hands up and took a step back. "Whoa Captain."

Kassandra lowered the spear, giving a tired apology in response. She slipped the spear back into its place. Barnabas just laughed it off and jumped right into a conversation. "Crew was just reporting in that we have a clear line to Athens so we should be arriving in the next couple hours."

She took in the information and returned a nod. "Thank you, Barnabas."

There was a moment of silence before Barnabas lowered himself down, picking up the discarded helmet. He seemed to take some time to admire the helmet just like Kassandra had been doing, muttering to himself, a serious expression on his face. "Such a head to wear on your shoulders, yet such a burden to drag them down."

Kassandra eyed Barnabas curiously. His eyes returned the look and he gave her a laugh. "Oh, but those are strong shoulders that can handle anything the Gods throw at them."

The helmet was held out to Kassandra, waiting for her to take it back into her hands. There was a moment of hesitation before she grabbed it. Barnabas stood straight and looked like he wanted to push further into the conversation but was stopping himself. Kassandra shook her head, tucking the helmet under one arm. He simply gave a nod and a courteous word before turning to leave.

He had already started to walk off before pausing, almost in thought. A hand raised as if he had thought of whatever it was and turned his head back to Kassandra. "No matter how things go from here," Barnabas paused, "the Adrestria and I will always be waiting for you."

Kassandra looked at him in slight surprise but wasn't given time to respond as Barnabas walked off to do whatever he needed. Kassandra was left standing there, not too sure what to do now. After a couple of minutes, and as more crew started returning to the deck, Kassandra headed over to the chest to return the helmet where she thought it belonged. She was a lot more gentle on the return.

Once that was done, she walked over to the spot she normally stood in command and watched the Adrestria return to life. Her eyes focused off on the horizon, light starting to break over the distant mountains surrounding Athens. Her next destination. And after what had happened on Andros and Phokis, she needed to keep moving, to keep looking for answers. It was just her hope that she could find some in the capital of the Athenians.


End file.
